Gyeonju

Hi to all who had been to Korea or in Korea!

I would like to know if it is possible to visit Gyeongju and Mt Namsan in 1 day? I plan to visit only the Bulguksa Temple %26amp; Seokguram Grotto in Gyeongju, and then go straight to Mt Namsan (which is nearly Gyeongju) to view the stone buddhas.

Can this be accomplished within 1 day?

Thanks!!

Gyeonju

Yes. You can do it, especially traveling by taxi.

Gyeonju

can you please expand your question?

';visit'; Gyeongju makes me think you are coming from somewhere else. Seoul? If so, it takes perhaps 4 hours from Seoul whether by train or bus, maybe longer. So it depends when you start.

And it depends when you plan to return. If you go back by train then PLEASE reserve your seat as early as you can. Otherwise you may need a hotel in Gyeongju!

And another quesiotn! what time of year? Not good if it is dark.

Which stone buddhas do you mean? Is this the ones that are in the hillside just south of Poseokjong?

Yes! I%26#39;m coming from Seoul. I intend to take the earliest train in the morning and reach Gyeongju around 12 noon. And then visit the Unesco world heritage sites of Bulguksa Temple %26amp; Seokguram Grotto, hopefully cover that within 2 hours and then perhaps hail a cab to go to Mt Namsan to view the buddhas carved in the stones/rocks. Not familiar with Poseokjong..apologies, cos it%26#39;s my first time to Korea.

I%26#39;ll be going Korea in mid-April which is next month. I suppose the last train from Gyeongju back to Seoul is at 5 or 6pm?

I%26#39;m going with my mother so I don%26#39;t think she has stamina to hike for 1 day in Mt Namsan. I read from lonely planet there are hundreds of paths and numerous trails through Namsan.. (omigosh).. is there a main path to explore the main relics or can a cab take us? Unfortunately I couldn%26#39;t find a domestic (korean) tour agency on internet that organises a 1-day trip to see only the sites I want to view.

I think you are doing too much. Bulguk temple could easily take 1 hour from arrival, and Seokguram grotto is a fair walk from the car park. It%26#39;s not all that exciting for the amount of effort it takes.

Definitely do the temple; make sure your driver takes you to the top car park, otherwise its a steep and quite long climb.

Not sure how easy the buddhas are to get to, though. If I remember right, they are also quite a long hike from the road.

If it were me, I%26#39;d go for temple, Anapji pond and Cheonmachong- the big tumulus in ';tumuli park';. That takes you past the observatory and most of the more fsmous sights. Give the grotto a miss (I prefer to do that at dawn) and bear in mind the buddhas are a good walk. You may find problems with telling a driver where to go for the buddhas, unless your Korean is better than mine.

Sorry, I mean 1 hour from arrival at the temple, not at Gyeongju station- probably a good half hours drive away.

Thanks so much for your advice!

Fortunately you mentioned that part about the steep upclimb trek up the Bulguk temple; I wasn%26#39;t aware I have to climb to reach the temple. Also according to Lonely Planet, it was stated that ';from Bulguksa, it%26#39;s a quick ride to Seokguram, a mountain grotto with a historic buddha';. That led me to think it%26#39;s fairly easy to cover these two places within a couple of hours by taking a cab.

Initially thinking of visiting the Chibulam (';Namsan%26#39;s largest relic with images carved in natural rocks and stone pillars'; - L Planet) but afraid now have to give it a miss :( Hope the 1-day trip to Gyeongju is worth it. A friend suggested doing Nam i island (since I%26#39;ll be staying in Seoul) instead of Gyeongju but I%26#39;m not so sure...

Thanks again for your useful advice!

If you want to make it one day, you should take KTX from Seoul to Dong Daegu and transfer to Gyoengju.

Seoul station Dongdaegu Dongdagu Gyeongju

05:25 07:13 07:25 08:39

07:30 09:13 09:27 10:38

09:40 11:18 11:30 12:39

Gyeongju Dongdagu Dongdagu Seoul station

17:12 18:18 18:30 20:19

19:14 20:25 20:36 22:17

20:03 21:25 21:43 23:31

If you take an early train, you could have approx.5-6hrs or more, and it would take you 3-4 hrs to look around Bulkuk temple and Seokguram Grotto. Take bus 10 from Gyeongju station to Bulkuk temple which is the last stop. From Bulkuk temple, you can take no.12 to Seokguram and it would take 20min. The time table is as below,

From bulkuk 840 940 1040 1140 1240 140 240 340 420

From Seokguram 900 1000 1100 1200 100 200 300 400 500 520 ?

The bus runs every 1 hr so you can take a taxi if you are in a hurry. When do you go to Geyongju exactly? If you are in the middle of April, you could enjoy Cherry blossom festival in Bomun Danji.

As for Namsan, it is a great place for sure representing the enormous buddist heritages, however, it seems a little tight for your schedule. Why don%26#39;t you try tourist attraction in downtown? There are Gyeongju Museum, Chemsungdae, Anapji and Daereungwon. You can cover those by walking around.

Hope this helps, Gyeongju is a really nice city.

I agree with that: Cheomsongdae etc would allow you to see a lot in one small area, fairly close to the train station. Namsan is great but a little remote.

Thanks guys for the helpful information! I sure hope the trip to Gyeongju is worth it, cos one of my friends who has a native Korean friend said there%26#39;s not much scenery outside of Seoul and I was surprised..most probably he hasn%26#39;t been outside of Seoul much.

I sure will take note of the information when I go gyeongju, speaking of which may I just ask a bit more info here please?

If I take bus no. 10 to Bulkuk temple, do I need to ascend the steep or long climb up Bulkuk? And then if I wish to go Seokguram grotto after Bulkuk, I have to climb or walk down Bulkuk to the same bus stop to take bus no.12?

Just curious, are there more domestic than foreign tourists to Gyeongju? There aren%26#39;t any local tours for foreigners?

Once the day gets dark, say after 7pm, is there anything to see in gyeongju? Or are those attractions like Tumuli, observatory, etc..is it advisable to visit them during the daytime?

My apologies if my questions appear too many. Thought it would be better to ask now than be lost later since it appears there aren%26#39;t many Koreans in Gyeongju knowing how to speak English. Plus, I have a poor sense of direction since I suck at reading maps.

Sorry, you%26#39;ve been misinformed. There are plenty of tours both TO Gyeongju and in Gyeongju designed for visitors. Every tour company offers overnights, and there are several day trips (which are too rushed in my view and need you to be on a bus at around 5 am)